MONROE, Conn. — On the day Sandy Hook Elementary School students returned to classes at a temporary building here, Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy created a panel charged with looking for ways to tighten state gun laws, improve mental health systems and protect schools.

Malloy, speaking Thursday in Hartford, appointed Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson to chair the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission. The commission takes its name from the Newtown school where gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 students and six adults three weeks ago.

Malloy, a Democrat, said that although Connecticut has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, "we can do more."

He said he hopes armed guards are not needed in every Connecticut school, but the advisory commission will study the issue and local communities may ultimately decide.

Regarding gun laws nationally, Washington needs "to get its act together," he said. "You don't need a 30-round clip to go hunting or to honor the Constitution of the United States," Malloy said.

The governor said the interim deadline for the commission's findings will be March 15 -- and that he hopes Connecticut's efforts can become a model for the nation.

In Monroe, buses carrying Sandy Hook students rolled into the campus of the former Chalk Hill Middle School as classes resumed for the first time since the tragedy.

Denise Correia said her second-grade child was "extremely happy" to return to school. She said Sandy Hook families are experiencing a wide variety of emotions.

"No one has a game plan for this," Correia said. "Everyone has to play this by ear. We don't know how we will be three months or five months down the road.

"We are all healing in a wonderful, terrific community" that includes "a lot of bright, educated people," she said. "Let's try to figure out how we can move on and make this a better place and a better world."

A sign welcomes Sandy Hook Elementary School students to the Chalk Hill School campus in neighboring Monroe, Conn.(Photo: The Newtown Bee via AP)

Newtown Superintendent Janet Robinson said officials did their best to make the students feel at ease and enjoy "a normal day."

Malloy praised the "Herculean effort" of teachers, teachers' aides and the school's new acting principal to get the school back in session. He also praised the town of Monroe for its generous offer of a temporary building for the school.

Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra said the community was pleased that students were able to return to school together at one facility instead of being split up and assigned to other Newtown elementary schools.

"Schools are happy places," Llodra said. "These kids had a horrible experience, and we need to put Band-Aids on their wounds."

On Thursday, Monroe's streets were lined with encouraging signs. Ribbons and balloons in the school colors of Sandy Hook -- green and white -- adorned some homes.

Police officers from several cities and towns were aiding in security. Officers directed traffic at the school's front entrance, where three police cars were parked. Police cars and officers also took up posts a short distance down the school's main road.

A bus carrying elementary school students from Newtown, Conn., stops in front of a memorial of 26 angels on Jan. 3 in Monroe. The Chalk Hill School in Monroe was overhauled for Sandy Hook students following a Dec. 14 shooting that killed 26 people. (Photo: Jessica Hill, AP)

Like this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:

Sandy Hook, a village within Newtown about 7 miles from Monroe, was overwhelmed by news media and police after the shooting rampage. Sandy Hook and Newtown are trying hard to move forward from the tragic events.

The flag at Sandy Hook firehouse, where students and teachers ran after the shooting, stood at full-staff Thursday in accordance with state guidelines, as does the huge flag in the middle of Newtown's two main streets.

Normalcy, though, has not yet arrived. A police car blocks the road next to the firehouse, which leads to the site of the shooting.

Police cars sit outside Newtown's other elementary schools and its intermediate, middle and high schools.

A sidewalk sign in downtown Sandy Hook announces "Free Acupuncture For Stress," and a placard on a toy store says, "We Are Sandy Hook We Choose Love."

On the back door of the Sandy Hook Deli, a group posted a paper asking customers to sign a petition to establish an ordinance banning assault weapons.

On the same door, a colorful oval decal shows Newtown's flagpole at half-staff and the words: "Newtown, Conn. Never Forget."